I'm starting to wonder how many more big-relatively big names Strikeforce can afford to pick up. Surely they can't keep paying for names like Fedor, Hendo, Arlovski, etc. at the rate that they are.

I think the difference between these guys and elite/affliction is the fact that they haven't bougt out a bunch of orgs and built around one single fighter and they have CBS. They also did 25 million viewers IRRC.

to say a top 10 mw and lhw brings nothing to the table when you're signing people like phil baroni is hilarious. i wish i knew what hendo was asking for when he was still in negotiations with the ufc to put it in perspective. either way there are good fights for him in strikeforce so it's a win/win for me.

Heres the way I look at it, Dan fought Rich at 97, in Dublin, with Shogun(thats pretty much it) on the card, drew in 320,000 buys which is at least $14400000. Dan and Rich made the UFC that much money pretty much on their own. Why can the UFC not pay their top fighters 300,000 a fight when right now other then end of the year and super bowl shows they're having 1 or 2 good fights on the card? They act like they put 4 great fights on every card, they are looking more and more like boxing. I just wen't through every UFC since 97 and I counted at the top end 3 good fights(because 2 cards had Cro Cop so that makes 3 for me) and many had 1 intriguing fight. IMHO the UFC is ripping people off, I honestly can't believe some people shell out $55 for some of these cards. They are lucky everyone takes what they say as gold and keeps buying these things. I'm not trying to bash the UFC, but when you have the kind of drawing power and make as much as you do off of us, how about doing something for the hard core fan who doesn't want to see Fitch vs Pierce or Couture vs Vera. We keep getting screwed because the UFC can say oh this guy is great he's done this and that and on top of that he's got a cheap contract when we miss out on the truly great fights while all the casuals believe it and we lose the great fighters. Oh well now we might get to see Dan vs Jake, Gegard, Fedor, and manhoef.

i have got to agree with you.

Just because dana says that someone isnt worth it doesnt mean there not.its hard not to bad mouth dana but all he does is bad mouth fighters.

im actually glad Strikeforce signed Dan.ive said it before an im still saying it.i want Strikeforce to compete with the UFC.an the more stubborn an greedy dana wants to be.the more successful Strikeforce will become.it just takes time.Strikeforce has been signing pretty recognizable names for some time now.an to be frank about it im excited about it.

The thing i like about Strikeforce is that they actually WANT to make superfights happen.with the DREAM co-promotion ideas they want to set up fights that WE fans want to see.the UFC however doesnt want superfights, what they want is their fighter to reign supreme over everyone...an that just irks me for some reason.

I find it distasteful that Dana has to trash anyone not immediately with him at all times doing whatever he says. I don't much care for those kind of guys in real, everday life, and I find it in poor taste in his case as well. Dan was nothing but class in his response to Dana and thanked the UFC. Dan hasn't just fought for the UFC, he's fought for everyone and given a lot to MMA, he has earned a measure of respect and dignity.

Dana should say, good bye, he wasn't in our plans and leave it at that. Instead, he feels the need to totally trash a guy who hasn't even spoken badly about him. THis isn't TIto leaving over a bad break up, this is a fighter who negotiated in good faith, you didn't reach agreement and someone else got him---probably for less. That's the way it goes. I doubt you'll see Dan leaving Strikeforce talking crap about Scott Coker either and when/if he does leave SF, Coker will definitely NOT talk badly about him.

To be quite frank, it will be nice to see Dan now without having to pay 50 for a PPV. I'll get to see him fight some good fights on free Tv. That makes me happy. I expect that you will see a slow trickle of fighters at times to this org. simply because the truth is the UFC is overbooked and is putting on too many shows right now.

They resign Tito for big $$$ when the chances of him ever winning a relevant fight again are nill..............yet they won't give Dan a little extra moola?C'mon!

Dan's poor PPV numbers come from the fact that he got stuck on two European cards (which never draw big numbers,no matter who's fighting on them),and got matched up against Anderson Silva at a time when he wasn't pulling big numbers yet.

It's funny,that post-TUF 9 and a brutal highlight reel KO on the biggest UFC card ever,that the UFC would decide to let Dan go.Right now is when he's going to be the most popular and sell the most PPV's,coming off the show and the KO of Bisping.

If anything,they should have re-signed him and had him fight at 205-they need contenders in that division and he would have made for some incredible matchups that would have sold big-who wouldn't buy Dan vs. Shogun?

The only upside for the UFC in letting Dan go to Strikeforce is the hopes that he helps drain them financially along with all the other big name,high dollar fighters they have on roster.Dana is probably hedging his bets on Strikeforce going under within the next year or so and being able to get back Dan for a reasonable price.

In the meantime,I'm looking forward to seeing Dan fight Shields,Jacare,and Mousasi.And I would literaly flip my lid if they could do a fight with Fedor.That would probably be the greatest superfight ever-the Pride welterweight and middleweight champ against the Pride heavyweight champ.Dan has the skills,the heart and the sheer toughness to give Fedor a tough fight.

Ive tried to like Dana but he is just an absolutely arrogant walking contradiction. I thought he was trying to make this a real sport and the biggest sport in the world? So you let go one of best athletes? He's not a big PPV draw? He's one of the best fighters in the world and he can only make your sport/product more legit. For Dana to talk like this makes me think he's more about $$ and less about a great sport/product.

Wow, its amazing how many people are defending Dan when you have no idea how much he was asking for. For all we know, he was asking for Fedor money. Dan's a great fighter and an asset to any org, however, if he was asking for a bitchload of cash, then its completely realistic that Dana would not sign him. He runs a business, and is looking for a return on investment, this isn't the Olympics. Dana signed back Tito, not because he is championship material, but because he puts butts in seats and is still a UFC caliber fighter.

It would be interesting to peek in on the contracts that the guys sign with Strikeforce. Is there a substantial difference between an EXCLUSIVE UFC contract and a non exclusive contract with SF?

I have no idea, maybe someone here knows but it would seem in my mind, that if you were signed to a non exclusive contract and could fight for other organizations outside of the US or in other martial arts/boxing, etc... that you may not be saddled with the same minimum number of fights, with set prices by a set time. Your management may not push for that if you can get more latitutde somewhere else and you negotiate so that you can create other revenue streams outside of SF. Then you wouldn't have a fighter on "retainer" and be paying him for nothing or scrambling to find him a fight because of contract language. You would have the freedom to put in fighters as you see fit based upon your schedule.

BUt then I don't know. The UFC carries a LOT Of exclusive contracts though. I wonder how much it costs to buy out the contracts when they can't get fights for them? I know one guy that got a 275K three fight deal and has only been on TV once. Not sure how THAT is sustainable in the UFC. If I was DANA i might be more concerned about that than SF.